Conservative rips the GOP’s ‘craven scramble to save face’ after Trump declares a fake national emergency

On Friday, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency to fight a fake crisis at the US-Mexico border. While signing the national emergency declaration Trump said that there was an “invasion of our country with drugs, with human traffickers, with all types of criminals and gangs,” CNN reported.

Congress approved $1.375 billion for barriers and fencing at the US-Mexico border but did not approve funds for any concrete wall. By declaring a national emergency, Trump is hoping to cut around Congress to gain an additional $8 billion for the wall.

Conservative Noah Rothman wrote in The Atlanticthat “Republicans will live to regret” Trump’s decision.

“For Donald Trump, the crisis isn’t humanitarian but political. It is a crisis of confidence. He staked his reputation on constructing a wall along the southern border, and he’s not going to get one,” Rothman wrote.

Trump declaring a national emergency was met with backlash from Republicans who felt blindsided by the president’s hasty decision making.

“The president will radically expand the definition of what constitutes an emergency, the relevant statutes of which are supposed to be applied only when Congress cannot be consulted on the matter in a timely fashion,” he wrote.

Adding, “Even if Trump’s decision to invoke national security to erect his wall is stopped indefinitely by the courts, we may look back upon this moment as the crossing of the Rubicon.”

Trump’s national emergency declaration is expected to be met with harsh criticism from the courts.

“This is a moment of extreme national cowardice. America’s governing institutions are abdicating their authority in pursuit of expedience and amid a craven scramble to save face. A precedent has been established that all Americans, but conservative Americans in particular, will long regret,” Rothman concluded.